MASKS
by SharinganAnbuSakura
Summary: The mysterious child behind the mask puzzled me. My imagination couldn't comprehend the reason why the ANBU would choose such a small creature to join their ranks. Then the child moved, blurring before my very eyes. At that moment, I knew why the child had been chosen. DARK ONE-SHOT


**MASKS**

**Summary: **The mysterious child behind the mask puzzled me. My imagination couldn't comprehend the reason why the ANBU would choose such a small creature to join their ranks. Then the child moved, blurring before my very eyes. At that moment, I knew why the child had been chosen.

**Warning: This is a dark one-shot. **

* * *

_You shouldn't underestimate me._

I remember Naruto saying that to me once. He had sent such a powerful glare my way that I felt my heart pound faster in excitement. If I remember correctly, I just shrugged my shoulders in response. Out of the corner of my eye, I had seen his lips curl in irritation and his jaw clench tightly.

Naruto hated when anyone questioned his talents or skills. I knew this better than anyone. I found myself scoffing under my breath. I knew this because I was one who tested him more than any other. I made certain that he knew I didn't believe in him.

To be perfectly honest, I found Naruto's anger rather amusing. It was almost exhilarating.

"How did you find me, Naruto?"

It looked like I was being presented with the opportunity again.

I felt a smirk trying to creep onto my face as I turned to face him.

**.xXx.**

**A Week Earlier**

"I'm worried about him."

Naruto, who had been looking down at his clasped hands, glanced up at Sakura. His lips struggled to create a sincere smile, but found that he couldn't do it. His weak smile fell as soon as he noticed Sakura's eyes darken in sadness.

"Sakura, I can honestly say that I tried my best to bring him back."

His voice was a soft murmur. He brought one of his hands up to his mouth as if he were going to become ill. With a deep inhale of air through his nose, he allowed his gaze to settle onto the floor. Naruto had never felt like such a failure in his life until this moment.

Sakura bit her bottom lip unconsciously. Moisture formed at the corner of her eyes.

"And now...look at you, Sakura."

He closed his eyes tightly for a few minutes. Naruto didn't want to see the tears pouring down her face. He could already hear her sniffling quietly. Sakura's tears had always had a powerful, intense effect on him. Her tears always left him helpless. An overpowering depression suddenly jumped onto his shoulders and he felt his body curl in on itself.

He started to cry quietly. Naruto could feel the hot tears streak down his cheeks. He hadn't wanted this to be Team 7's fate.

Naruto had had two dreams in his life. Firstly, he had wanted to become Hokage. He had successfully achieved this status a few years earlier. He still remembered the cheers that echoed around the village. He had never received so many smiles and congratulations in his lifetime. It was one of the happiest days of his life.

And secondly, he had wanted for Team 7 to be together until old age claimed them. He had always pictured Sasuke and himself still bickering about who was stronger and competing against each other. He imagined Sakura as an elderly woman that would nag them and ask for them to be quiet while she tried to concentrate on quilting or her medical studies. Naruto could have easily seen all of them being extremely crabby at times with each other. But the most important part was that the three of them could come together and reminisce about the past.

He wanted to be able to look back on Sasuke's departure from the village and say, "Wow, weren't you stupid, Sasuke? Good thing you came back, huh?" And he imagined Sakura commenting, "Yeah. Do you realize how cold that damn bench was? I should've castrated you for that."

But this would never happen. The memories that Naruto wanted to create would never exist.

Sasuke was still missing from the village. Naruto had sent out several groups to retrieve him. He had even been present for a few of them. If he could have, Naruto would have been present for every single search. However, the duty of Hokage didn't allow him to spend that much time on finding his friend. He had to tend to the people and the village that relied on him. Besides, why should Naruto waste the opportunity of Hokage on a good-for-nothing man?

Well, Naruto wasted some of his opportunities as Hokage for the Uchiha boy that he had once known.

In fact, he was wasting some of his time at this moment.

Naruto finally managed to push himself to his feet. His eyes avoided Sakura's as much as possible. He moved the chair away from Sakura's bed and set it against the wall where it had been before his visit. He started to move towards the exit of her room.

"Naruto."

Her voice was constricted by her sobs. No matter how much he tried to make himself leave, he couldn't do it at that moment. His hand was gripping the doorknob tightly. He didn't even have the strength to twist the knob.

He finally looked at her once more.

Blood-stained sheets met his troubled gaze.

The tunnel vision that he had been experiencing finally lifted. His eyes took in the bloody sheets at first, then her lack of a left arm, followed by the crimson bandages wrapped tightly around her entire torso, and lastly her glistening face. Naruto had learned not to cringe in front of her. He remembered the first time that he had openly reacted to her condition. Sakura had started crying hysterically, making her life support system machines go into a dangerous frenzy.

The respirator's sound finally reached his ears again. He had been unconsciously tuning it out until now.

He had been trying to view her as the Sakura that he knew. It wasn't his intention to come off as shallow, but it hurt him that she was so different and unlike what she had been during their childhood. It was hard for Naruto's mind not to see the bright, determined pink-haired girl that had hugged him when he had defeated Pein and thwarted the invasion on Konoha. It pained him so much to see Sakura's missing her arm and dying in front of him.

Her heartbeat monitor beeped quietly in the background.

"Please bring him back, Naruto."

Her voice was raspy and foreign. It did not sound like Haruno Sakura. It sounded like a victim of extreme dehydration. The oxygen mask was not making it any easier to distinguish her unique voice.

"I can't guarantee that." Naruto whispered softly. He instantly regretted the volume he had chose to speak in because she strained to lean forward to hear him. Then, as if she had been enlightened by an idea, Sakura sat back against her propped up bed. He knew that she had realized what he had said.

In a louder voice, Naruto said, "I don't know where he is. The village already looks down on my efforts to find him."

A knock sounded at the door beside him.

"Hokage-sama? You have a meeting to attend to with the Council, remember?"

Naruto sighed heavily, feeling older than the middle-aged man that he was. His Hokage duties couldn't wait at this moment. He would have to return to Sakura tomorrow morning.

He walked over, trying to ignore the hurt in her eyes. Gently, he wrapped his arms around Sakura. He felt her shudder at his touch. It felt so awkward and strange to hug her fragile, injured body. Naruto had always thought this situation would be reversed. Sakura would be hugging his dying body; Naruto would be the one begging Sakura for a favor.

"Hokage-sama!"

Both of them could tell the woman on the other side of the door was growing exasperated. She was one of the villagers that felt Naruto had spent too much time on retrieving Sasuke and tending to the broken Team 7.

Naruto kissed Sakura lightly on the cheek. It wasn't meant to be taken as romantic. It was simply a way to show that he still deeply loved her as his best friend. He leaned his head against hers gently for a moment.

He was always afraid of what he would do if he lost her. He had everything with her, for she was the last living connection to his memories and happiness that had once existed. She reminded him of the better days, when he didn't have the responsibilities of Hokage, a broken friendship, and dead loved ones.

"Please smile for me." He murmured.

"I won't." She whispered quietly.

"Why?"

Sakura leaned her head away from him, staring into his eyes. The determination that he saw was something that made his heart beat pick up speed. It had been so long since he had seen the trait surface in her.

Her words were said without a catch or pause due to the respirator.

"Until my son has returned safely, I will not smile. I will not be happy."

Naruto jumped away from her as she thrust her face towards him.

"I don't care what becomes of Uchiha Sasuke. I want to be able to hold my son again!"

Sakura's depression had changed into outright anger. The tears on her face had dried. It had been so, so long since Naruto had seen such fiery passion within her emerald eyes. It was as if the passion had removed whatever sadness that had once held a strong presence. He had almost forgotten what it was like to witness Sakura's fury.

"If I find out that monster has hurt my child, I will kill him. He can cut off my other arm, hit me with his Chidori, or stab my heart again. Regardless of what he does to me, I will take revenge on him!"

Naruto's eyes had widened from her outburst. He wasn't aware of his staring until she started breathing heavily. She collapsed back against her bed, exhausted.

Her heartbeat monitor was beeping more rapidly now. It was the only sound for a moment. Then, his secretary called to him from outside the room more urgently.

"Sakura...I must leave."

He paused, taking in her enraged stature. Her hand was clenched tightly into a fist. The IV in her arm shifted around her vein from the action. He knew that had to be painful for her, but she was ignoring it.

"I cannot promise you that I can bring your son back." He then added quietly, unsure if he had heard himself say,"I don't even know if I would be bringing back a corpse or not."

"Get out." Sakura's head snapped towards him. "_Now._"

Naruto started fumbling with apologies, but stopped when Sakura continued to glare at him. He regretted what he had said immediately.

"I'll be back tomorrow." He sighed as he said this. Naruto had to make his feet move towards the door. He felt the depression sink into shoulders even more as he opened the door.

Nurses were outside the door, waiting for him to leave. His secretary was among them with an annoyed look. As soon as he stepped aside, the nurses rushed in frantically. He noticed one of them was preparing a needle for injection. Naruto figured that Sakura's outburst had created such an upset in the hospital that she was being forced to be sedated.

He had to tune out the sound of Sakura struggling as he shut the door behind him. He couldn't handle it.

"We're going to be late, Hokage-sama. This won't help your request move any faster with them."

Naruto resisted the urge to sigh, resting his clasped hands on his lower back. He moved away from the recovery room, following his secretary at his own pace.

All the while, he could hear Sakura yelling at the nurses for trying to calm her down.

**.xXx.**

For the next few weeks, Sakura's health struggled to recover from her traumatic experience with Sasuke. She was actually very lucky to be alive and kicking after the encounter. Of course, she didn't consider herself lucky by any means. In fact, she felt that she was a failure. In her mind, Sakura had failed to destroy the monster that had ruined not just Naruto's life, but her own.

During those few weeks, Naruto visited her every day. Villagers gossiped to each other that he became distraught if he couldn't see his beloved friend. In all honesty, Sakura and Naruto's relationship was often questioned. Many speculated that there was a love affair between the two. Naruto's wife, Hinata, trusted him and ignored the rumors though. In fact, Naruto was fairly blessed to have a woman that was so understanding.

One of the main reasons that the Leaf Village gossiped about the pair so frequently was actually because of Sakura's child. Only Sakura and Naruto knew the identity of the father. It had been quite a shock to everyone when Sakura had started showing around seven months. She was heavily questioned about the father, but she wouldn't reveal anything. Her secrecy led to conspiracy theories about Naruto and his dwindling loyalty to his duties. It especially didn't help when Naruto chose not to disclose any information regarding the matter.

The village had actually been in an uproar ever since Sakura's pregnancy became public. The people wondered if they could trust Naruto if he wouldn't disclose something as trivial as the identity of a child's father. He remained steadfast, however. Whether it be loyalty to Sakura or because of the truth regarding the matter, Naruto refused to say anything on the subject.

The two of them had actually been spotted walking around with the child a few years back. Sakura had been holding onto the boy's hand as she walked through the streets of the Leaf Village. Naruto walked on the other side of the boy as if to guard and protect him. The peculiar thing about the stroll through the village was that the boy had been wearing an ANBU mask.

Every time that the child appeared, he wore the same ANBU mask. It was a simple white mask carved into the face of a fox and had a few defining fox features outlined in crimson. Yet again, this added onto the theories surrounding the two teammates. The only features that people knew about the boy was that he had shaggy reddish brown hair and emerald eyes. Considering Sakura's hair, it was hard to determine what the child would look like. Aside from his hidden face, the boy was actually rather quiet and kept to himself. He didn't have the normal five-year old open, optimistic view of the world. Honestly, it seemed as though the child was quite mature for his age.

On top of being mature, the child was also apparently very skilled and intelligent. The child, after all, had landed himself a spot among the ANBU. He would be the first child since Uchiha Itachi to be accepted into the organization. It would definitely be appropriate to say that the child was a prodigy. No one had really seen him in action unfortunately. Well, no one except the ANBU, the Hokage, and his mother, of course.

It had actually been quite some time since the Leaf Village saw the child. It didn't occur to most people that Sakura had slipped away for a few weeks to search for him. No one really brought up the subject until Sakura was rushed through the streets on a stretcher with medical-nin on either side of her. Blood had dribbled onto the streets as they whisked her away.

It had become clear that the boy had been assigned to kill Uchiha Sasuke and hadn't been heard from in days. The villagers still didn't approve of the existence of the child despite the loyalty and the courage that the child had shown. In their eyes, he was a mystery and perceived as the outcast of Konoha. No one wanted to interact with him because he was seen as one of the untouchables of the village. Surely, they thought, he was just as much trouble as his mother. Clearly, he was an abomination and nothing more.

Naruto still remembered the day of Sakura's return well. It was rather fresh in his mind. However, Sakura didn't remember the rush into the hospital. She only remembered the battle and her downfall that day. As soon as Sakura's body passed the village gate, Naruto had been at her side. He had been with her until the medical ninja had told him he had to stay in the waiting area. He almost fought against them, but then he realized that even his status of Hokage could not be used as a pass into the surgery room. He hadn't wanted to be looked down upon for abusing his power.

He had waited the entire time to hear that Sakura would be okay. It had been a rough ten hours at least. He lost track at that point since he was becoming delirious with lack of sleep. His stress levels were so high that he had started itching his skin. Hinata came in and soothed him by holding his hand or talking to him in her calm, peaceful tone. As he had thought many times before, Naruto was extremely lucky to have such an understanding and loyal wife.

_I'm sorry, Naruto. I'm not quite certain on how long Sakura will be around for at this point. She has been in critical condition for so long that it's hard to say whether or not she'll recover. Even if she managed to recover, it's hard to say how long she'll be able to survive. It's hard to imagine that she'll walk again, let alone be able to live without a life support machine._

As Naruto had heard these words, he honestly lost a small part of himself. What do you do when you hear that your best friend might die? Or more so, how do you react when your friend can survive, but lives in agony and anguish for the rest of their days?

He wasn't sure what he would rather see.

**.xXx.**

_Be__eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep-_

The heartbeat monitor had been flat lining for several hours. By the time the nurses had arrived on the scene, Sakura had been gone for a while.

Naruto had been notified immediately. Later, he would wonder how he arrived so quickly. On the way there, however, it seemed like like eternity stretched before him. He needed to see for himself that Sakura had departed.

When he walked into the room, the flat line was still going off. Sakura's room was one filled with chaos. The nurses were trying to clean up the mess that was left behind. It wasn't exactly the kind of atmosphere that Naruto wanted to be in.

He was tempted to sit down out of the sheer agony that possessed him. Naruto suddenly felt as though someone was choking him. He couldn't swallow for a moment. His stomach started moving on its own accord. Nausea seized him and he had to force himself to leave the room.

In the bathroom, he vomited violently, unable to stop for ten minutes or so. As soon as he thought he was okay, he started dry gagging.

His cheek was against the toilet lid, saliva dribbling down the side of his mouth. Naruto felt extremely dizzy and couldn't focus his eyes on anything. He had never been this physically sick in his life.

_Why did she have to leave when I needed her the most? What will people think now?!_

Naruto remained crumpled on the ground. He didn't have the energy to stand up. The stench of his vomit was overwhelming him enough to make him have to lean over the toilet for round two.

At some point, he passed out from exhaustion.

Hinata was the one to find him later that evening. With some help, she took him back home and let him rest in bed. He didn't wake up until late at night when she was asleep. When he started stirring, she turned to him, eyes fluttering open.

"Why did she have to go?" He almost sounded like a child. His eyes were bright with tears. In the darkness, Hinata brought him close to her despite how he reeked and how dirty his clothes were. She began to run her hand through his hair gently. For some unknown reason, this small action made him cry harder. His sobs echoed around the room.

"Why can't I follow her? Why did she leave me like this? I _can't_ follow her!"

Hinata let him continue on. She knew that if she stopped him, he would not feel any better in the end.

"I wish I could go after her...I love her so goddamn much. We were supposed to grow old together!"

For the rest of the night, Naruto continued to cry into Hinata's shoulder. The next day, he didn't show up for his duty as Hokage. However, the people were able to understand his pain. They couldn't judge him for losing a loved one.

"Saaaaakuraaaa!"

* * *

**PRESENT DAY**

When Sasuke turned around, he was expecting to see Naruto. However, it wasn't Naruto that had approached him. In fact, it was someone that he had never seen before in his life. His eyes narrowed as they gazed upon the ANBU mask that the figure wore.

The Uchiha had grown accustomed to being approached by strangers, but he had never dealt with someone that was so small. It was as if he were standing in front of a child. He wondered if his eyes were deceiving him. But that couldn't be. He had the eyes of a Uchiha!

"What do you want?" Sasuke's hand smoothly grabbed onto the hilt of his katana. The wind blew softly against him, leaves floating past his face.

The shinobi with the ANBU mask did not answer. They remained crouched on the forest floor. The tall trees surrounding them cast shadows across the figure. It was as if it were born in the shadow.

He was puzzled by the shinobi. Usually, his opponents were quick to strike him. However, in this case, the shinobi had not made a single move against Sasuke. The raven-haired man _hn'd _and proceeded to start walking away. The sun was setting; he had other places to be. Sasuke couldn't afford to spend all day debating if this shinobi was an enemy or not.

As soon as he took a step forward, Sasuke heard the _whoosh_.

Sasuke's head snapped towards the shinobi, watching the small creature weave expertly through the trees. Sasuke's eyes bled crimson instantly as he forced his feet to propel him into the trees. He heard a loud crash sound beneath him. When Sasuke looked down, he saw a crater where he had previously been. The shinobi crouched there, their fist embedded into the ground.

The Uchiha's eyes widened. He hadn't seen that kind of powerful taijutsu since Haruno Sakura or Rock Lee. He could see the chakra circulating within the shinobi's body like a raging storm. The chakra was whipping around inside them in a frenzy, but at the same time, was harnessed and under control of the user. He hadn't seen such amazing chakra control in a long time. It reminded him of his older brother, the great Sanin, and a few others that he had once associated with in his past life.

The shinobi was already looking up at Sasuke, the mask's blank face staring at him. It was almost unnerving. What was with this foe?

The enemy pushed off the ground towards Sasuke, speeding through the air easily. Sasuke's arms rose to block the shinobi's rush on him. However, right as the ANBU grew close, it disappeared before Sasuke's eyes. He suddenly sensed the enemy behind him.

Sasuke grunted loudly as he plummeted into the hard earth. The ground vibrated from his impact. He shook his head, trying to shake off the dizzy feeling in his head. He hadn't expected the enemy to use such a tactic. He should not have underestimated his opponent.

Struggling to his feet, Sasuke turned just in time to come face-to-face with the shinobi. They heatedly exchanged punches, both expertly keeping up with each other's barrage of attacks. A punch here, a punch there. It was as if they were mirroring each other.

He finally managed to jump away from the shinobi, taking the moment to catch his breath. It was short-lived, however, for he was rushed again. Hastily, Sasuke withdrew his katana and swung towards his opponent. In the last second, Sasuke was able to slash the ANBU's face as he tried to jump out of harm's way.

The ANBU mask shattered instantly. The katana's tip had cut right into the mask, even scraping across the nose of the shinobi. The shinobi let out a grunt as they moved a hand to feel for the damage upon their face. Sasuke's eyes watched in awe and shock as the shinobi darted away to a safe distance.

His awe and shock quickly turned to horror.

As the shinobi's bloodied hand moved away from their face, Sasuke caught an entirely different shade of crimson. It was a crimson that he had come to know because of his Uchiha heritage. Black pinwheels greeted him as if he were an old friend. Sasuke stared at him, too distraught to move his eyes away from the face of his foe.

How...did a child possess the Mangekyou Sharingan?!

The child seemed to regain its composure, despite the blood dripping from the bridge of his nose. It had an expression of indifference as it flicked the blood off its hand. His eyes bore into Sasuke's intensely. The child didn't seem to care that his identity could be compromised.

Sasuke's hand started to circulate chakra immediately. The air began to crackle with electricity as Sasuke straightened his hand off to his side to resemble a blade.

He didn't care who this child was. He had no right to possess the Sharingan, let alone one of the strongest types of it. He could not allow this child to live.

Sasuke took a step forward menacingly. The child's eyes had not stopped watching him. It was as if the child was daring him to attack.

The child then smirked. It was a smirk that was disgustingly familiar. It reminded him of his older brother. Sasuke's brain fumbled for a moment with an idea. ...What if this child was Itachi's? Sasuke's other hand clenched tightly immediately.

"I'm going to kill you."

Sasuke became possessed with rage. How could his brother repopulate the heritage after brutally massacring the Uchiha Clan so many years ago? The blood was rushing in Sasuke's head from the realization. Although he was slightly dizzy from his anger, Sasuke sprung forward towards the child with his Chidori.

The child's pinwheels began to spin, but the Mangekyou Sharingan wasn't going to catch Sasuke in time. The Uchiha man was traveling too fast to be caught.

Sasuke swung his arm forward, aiming straight for the child's heart. Sasuke had closed his eyes in the last seconds to prevent being trapped in the illusion of the Mangekyou. He was definitely insured to hit the child without a doubt.

Warm blood found Sasuke's hand as he shoved it through the child's body. His hand cut through the heart cleanly. Electricity crackled around the two in a frenzy, lightening their faces with electric blue.

Sasuke opened his eyes again. At that moment, his own heart skipped a beat, seeming to stop on its own.

Instead of the child being before him, Haruno Sakura had taken his place in the last few seconds. Sasuke's eyes widened in horror and confusion. Blood was gushing from her mouth as she softly laughed. She looked down at his crouched position, taking heavy, agonizing breaths. He could hear the struggle in her breathing, her struggle to live.

"Sa-suke."

Tears were glistening in her eyes. He wasn't sure why she was near tears. Was it because she was dying?

Sakura slowly brought her hands together, forming hand signs shakily. Her lips moved to name the jutsu, but Sasuke was unable to hear it. He just knew that he needed to get away from the woman as quickly as possible. He tried to pull his hand out of her stomach, but his hand was being constricted by her body. It was if her body had healed enough to keep him from moving.

"I will ne-ver...let you harm our..."

Sasuke could feel his arm starting to lose circulation. Her muscles and organs were starting to wrap around his arm, tightening around his arm enough to cut off the blood flow in his arm. Even if he could move away from her, he wouldn't have been able to try. He was frozen with shock.

"Child."

At that moment, Sasuke felt his arm sliced open. He wasn't entirely sure what had made the wound, but he knew he HAD to get away if he wanted to live. With a struggle, Sasuke tried to pry his arm out of Sakura's body. He tried to use his feet to push himself off the ground, away from whatever she was doing to him. He knew that he would die if he stayed in this position.

Suddenly, Sasuke felt a tingling sensation begin to captivate his arm. At first, it only tingled, but then it began to sting. It was slowly traveling towards the rest of his body. His body shook violently as it reached his shoulder and started to work its way across the rest of his body.

"I in-jected poi-son into my-self to en-sure you'd die...with me."

At that moment, Sasuke knew that Sakura had not intended to live from the start. She had known her days were numbered from their last battle. Her body had damage that would never fully recover. It would have been a miracle if she had lived to function properly. As she stood her, poisoning the one who had caused her so much pain, she smiled wistfully.

Sakura was remembering her journey to this moment. She remembered tearing out the IV and life support lines at the hospital as she hobbled out of her bed. Then there were the blaring sirens of her "death" as she narrowly escaped her room by running into the nurses' quarters. She had grabbed a white lab coat, a procedure mask, and a surgeon's cap before she stepped into a changing stall. As she changed, Sakura had thrown her hair up into the surgical cap and readied herself to be able to walk out of the building without alerting the others of her presence. On the way out, she passed by Naruto, who raced past her without bothering to look at her. To him, she had just been an average nurse.

Before she left, Sakura made sure to grab an injection of the hospital's strongest poisons. She inserted the needle into the crook of her arm and injected herself with the poison carefully. If she hadn't been a shinobi of excellent medical skills and chakra control, the pink-haired woman would have died in a few minutes. Luckily, she was able to hold the poison at bay in her remaining arm. The tingling, stinging sensation was almost unbearable. She disposed of the needle in a nearby trashcan as she left.

As soon as she had escaped out the back of the hospital, she proceeded to leave the village immediately. It was almost too easy to exit the village. She had luckily picked a time that the guards had been rotating shifts. From there on, she began to limp through the forest. Eternity had stretched before her as she struggled through the shady trees. As she walked, her breathing had grown ragged and hoarse, her legs had grown weak from the damage from her previous battle. At one point, she began to daydream about her child.

Oh, how she had kept him safe and warm in her arms. She remembered nuzzling her face against his and running her hand through his soft hair. His emerald eyes brightened only for her. He actually showed affection by wrapping his tiny arms around her chest. He loved her even though the entire village had scrutinized them. He didn't care that he received glares on a daily basis through his ANBU mask. All that he had cared was that his mother was there, holding his hand or right beside him.

"YOU BITCH!" Sasuke screamed out. His throat was starting to constrict in on itself to the point he couldn't breathe. He fell onto his knees, unable to stop shaking violently. He started coughing as he tried to bring oxygen into his lungs.

Sakura soon fell onto her knees as well. She slowly turned her head to look at her child. The boy with pinwheel eyes took a step towards her, taking a hold of her hand. There were no words that could be said to describe their feelings. She could have said that she loved him, but she knew that he was already well aware of that. She was giving her life in order to make sure that he would be able to survive.

Although it was the ultimate sacrifice, Sakura wouldn't have ended her life any other way. It soothed her pained soul to know that her child would live on without a dangerous father on the loose. She wanted him to be proud of something, to be proud of himself for distracting the monster before she had jumped into the battle. The village would now see him as a hero rather than simply an accident or mystery.

Sakura glanced at the mask on the ground. The remains of it reflected in her eyes as she said her last words:

"Show your face, my so-on. You no long-er need a mask."

With her last gasp of air, Sakura collapsed onto the ground next to the still Sasuke. His body had been frozen for a while child watched them for a moment. Agony and disgust was etched onto the face of his father; peace and contentment on that of his mother. Then as he was forcing himself to look away, Naruto burst onto the scene.

Naruto was followed by a few other shinobi. As soon as he stumbled onto the scene, Naruto fell onto his knees. His eyes went from the dead parents to the child and then back again. Tears were forming at his eyes.

"I'm sorry I couldn't make it in time..." He whispered to no one. It was meant to be directed at Sakura, but he knew that she couldn't hear him now. He then looked at the child, searching in his eyes for something. As if he found nothing, Naruto sighed and walked over to the child. He threw his arms around Sakura's boy, even if he knew that the child wasn't that affectionate towards him. He wasn't sure if the child was comforting him more than what he had originally intended.

"Things can only get better from here." Naruto said aloud. No one was certain if Naruto was saying it to the group or himself. As Naruto wrapped his arms around the boy more tightly, the present group came to the conclusion that he was trying to convince himself.

**A FEW DAYS LATER**

When Naruto returned to the village, he called the entire village to assemble outside the Hokage's office. He stood upon the top of the office, looking down to his people in the streets. The people were murmuring among themselves, uncertain to why this meeting was taking place. The atmosphere in the streets crackled with anticipation.

"Today," Naruto began, "I have gathered you here to bring you great news."

There was a pause. In that pause, everyone seemed to lean forward in suspense. The silence was killing them.

Naruto looked around at the faces of all ages staring up at him.

"Uchiha Sasuke...is dead."

As if a switch had flipped, the streets were suddenly filled with cheering and movement. People started to rejoice and smile, laugh and embrace one another. It was a time of celebration for them. The reign of an infamous traitor had finally come to an end.

And then, Naruto spoke up once more.

"Even so, I have another matter to discuss." His voice was almost too quiet for the villagers to hear. It took them a few minutes to calm down and turn their attention on him again. When one person noticed his somber stature, the news spread like wildfire. Soon enough, Naruto had the attention of the entire village once more.

"Haruno Sakura sacrificed herself to ensure that the village would be safe." Naruto looked out into the crowd, looking for a particular face as he spoke. "She escaped the hospital right under our noses and ventured out to find him. Before she left, however, she injected herself with a poison that could have easily killed her off if it had not been for her chakra control and medical knowledge. In her final moments on this earth, she jumped in front of her child to save him from certain death and used a special jutsu to infect Sasuke and kill him."

The village was stunned into silence. People didn't know how to react to Naruto's words.

"She...She sacrificed herself for a village that scrutinized her in the last few years of her life. The only reason that she was able to rest peacefully was because she knew that her child would be looked upon as a hero rather than a monster or a threat. This child-"

Naruto suddenly brought forth Sakura's child to the front of office building.

The child no longer wore a mask. The Mangekyou Sharingan eyes were easily spotted within seconds.

"Who chased after his own father in order to avenge his mother and village. He tracked down Sasuke in order to eliminate a threat to a village that shot him glares and whispered about him behind his back. He protected the same village that called him an abomination."

Naruto then smiled widely as he brought the boy close to him.

"Whether you all would like to admit it or not, this boy is a hero. He is probably one of the most loyal shinobi that I have ever met in my life. I imagine that he got that from his mother. I think that it is time that he is recognized as a model. And before I end this meeting, I want to give you something to think about."

"A few years back, Sakura stumbled upon the knowledge while behind enemy lines that Uchiha Itachi had died. He had not been slain by his younger brother, but rather his own organization. Itachi had been discovered to be secretly affiliated with the Leaf Village even after leaving his home. He had joined the Akatsuki to monitor their objectives and steer them away from the village. He was working for us, protecting us, and we had always assumed that he was a traitor. When Sakura was enlightened by this, she realized that she had found a name for her child."

Naruto ushered forward the boy to stand in front of him.

"Konoha, I proudly present to you the child of Haruno Sakura without the ANBU mask..."

The boy's eyes lit up for the first time with a warm glow.

"Itachi."

* * *

**A/N: I really have nothing to say regarding this story. All I can really say is that it took a lot out of me and that it was definitely a different kind of style for me. It's been both enjoyable and a nuisance for me. Nevertheless, I am proud of it. I hope you all were able to get something out of it, if only at least a decent read. **

**Please tell me what you think guys. I hope it doesn't feel rushed at any point. I was trying to avoid that, mainly towards the end. **

**Love to you all.**

**_An Extra:_**

"One day," Sakura whispered to her son, "you will be a hero of this village."

Itachi looked at her with a quizzical look. He didn't understand what she could possibly mean. He knew very well that the village did not care for him. In fact, he knew that he was detested and feared.

"That can't be true." He protested quietly.

She squeezed him tighter in her arms, smiling against his cheek.

"There will come a day when the village will know of your courage and bravery. They will know of your sacrifices and your kind soul. If there is ever a doubt, I know that Naruto will come to your aid and defend your loyalty."

"What if the village chooses to always reject me?"

Sakura leaned back so that she could look into Itachi's gorgeous crimson eyes. He wasn't sure if he would ever get used to his mother's affection and love. She had never made him doubt how she dearly loved him. He wondered if she would ever give her life for someone like him, who had caused her so much suffering by just his mere existence.

"Itachi. Do you remember the man who I named you after? And the stories that I told you about him?"

Itachi nodded hesitantly.

"And do you understand exactly what he did for this village?"

"He sacrificed everything. His life, his reputation, his loved ones, even his relationship with Sasuke, were all sacrificed to ensure that the village was kept safe. He protected the village from within a dangerous organization. He loyally endured all these sacrifices even though the village had no idea of his true motives and wanted him dead. His love for the village was stronger than his will to save himself."

Sakura's smile still hadn't left her lips. Itachi was right on target.

"If you ever have doubt, or if anyone should ever doubt you, I want you to remind yourself of just how far your loyalty stretches with a little phrase."

Sakura tapped the tip of her index finger against his forehead. With her little poke, she smiled lovingly at him, saying,

"For better or worse, there you are."

**The End**


End file.
